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Reggatta de Blanc
| Length = 41:52 | Label = A&M | Producer = | Last album = Outlandos d'Amour (1978) | This album = Reggatta de Blanc (1979) | Next album = Six Pack (1980) | Misc = }} Reggatta de Blanc is the second studio album by English rock band The Police, released on 2 October 1979. It features the band's first two UK No. 1 hits: "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon". It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the UK Album Charts."The Police Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2014 In early 1980, the album was re-issued in the US on two 10" discs, one album side per disc, as a collector's edition with a poster of the band. It was their second album to bear a foreign language title after the band's 1978 debut album Outlandos d'Amour. Reggatta de Blanc proved both more popular and successful than its predecessor. The title track earned the band their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1980.Grammy Awards by the Police, Grammy.com. In 2012, the album was ranked No. 372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time."500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Police, 'Reggatta de Blanc'", Rolling Stone. Background Reggatta de Blanc took four weeks to record, spaced over several months.Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "Outlandos at the Regatta". In Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (pp.32–35) set booklet. A&M Records Ltd. Unlike its successor, Zenyatta Mondatta, there was no pressure on the band. Stewart Copeland described it, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?' We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in."''Sounds'' magazine, January 1980. In Modern Drummer magazine, Copeland considers Regatta de Blanc to be the 'best Police record.' Against the wishes of A&M, who had wanted to equip the promising band with a bigger studio and more famous producer, the Police opted to again record at Surrey Sound with Nigel Gray.Summers, Andy (2006). One Train Later. New York: St. Martin's Press. . The small budget (between £6,000 and £9,000) was easily covered by the profits of their previous album, Outlandos d'Amour,Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. . Page 61. further ensuring that the record label would have no control over the actual creation of the band's music. Whereas Outlandos d'Amour had benefited from one of the most prolific songwriting periods of Sting's life, the recording sessions for Reggatta de Blanc were so short on new material that the band even considered re-recording "Fall Out" at one point. To fill in the gaps, Sting and Copeland dug up old songs they'd written and used elements of them to create new songs. Much of the lyrics to "Bring On the Night" were recycled from Sting's Last Exit song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", and "The Bed's Too Big Without You" similarly started as a Last Exit tune,Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. . Page 36. while "Does Everyone Stare" originates from a piano piece Copeland wrote in college. The closing track "No Time This Time" was previously the B-Side to "So Lonely" in November 1978, and was added to pad out the album's running time. The album's title is a pseudo-French translation of "white reggae". Songs The instrumental "Reggatta de Blanc", one of the few songs written by the Police as a group, came from the long instrumental break in the live performance of "Can't Stand Losing You"Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000). "I think if we came back ...", Revolver. and earned the band the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. "Bring on the Night" was written three years earlier as "Carrion Prince", the title taken from Ted Hughes's poem "King of Carrion", and is about Pontius Pilate; however, after reading The Executioner's Song, Sting felt that the words fitted Gary Gilmore's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind." "The Bed's Too Big Without You" was covered by reggae singer Sheila Hylton in 1981, and became a UK Top 40 hit.Sheila Hylton UK chart history, The Official Charts. Retrieved 16 November 2011. Critical reception | rev2 = Chicago Tribune | rev2score = | rev3 = Christgau's Record Guide | rev3score = B− | rev4 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music | rev4score = | rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev5score = }} Reggatta de Blanc continued to build on the success of the band's previous record , hitting No. 1 on the UK and Australian album charts upon its release in October 1979. "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon" were released as singles and both reached No. 1 in the UK. In 2012, the album was ranked No. 372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Track listing Personnel *Sting – bass guitar, lead (all but 5 and 7) and backing vocals, double bass *Andy Summers – guitar, backing vocals, piano (10) *Stewart Copeland – drums, backing and lead (7) vocals, guitar (3, verses and chorus), spoken word (10) Charts Album Singles Awards References External links *[http://www.radio3net.ro/dbartists/supersearch/UmVnYXR0YSBkZSBCbGFuYyAoQSZNKQ /Regatta%20de%20Blanc%20%28A&M%29 Reggatta de Blanc] (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed) Category:The Police albums Category:1979 albums Category:A&M Records albums Category:Albums produced by Nigel Gray Category:English-language albums